Street fire-hydrant.



C. L. HOWES.

STREET PIRE HYDRANT. APPLICATION FILEDTBBJ, 190s. RBNBWBD'JAN-18, 1911.

Patented sept. 10, 1912.

I n Hydrants,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT. oFFIcE. i

CLAUDE I.. `nourris. or BosToN, MASSACHUSETTS. i

STREET FIRE-HYDRANT.

To all whom it may concern..

Be it known that I, CLAUDEL. Howes, of

and useful Improvements Street Fire-l vof which the followingisaspecification.l

This invention has relation to street or lire hydrants 'of thecompression 'valveltype in which the main valve isE seatedagamst thepressure of the water. The invention has forits object to. ro-` vide alire hydrant with means'for'hol ving the main valve to its seat in theevent ot breakage and consequently displacement. ofv

the exposed portion of the hydrant-casing and its adjuncts, therebyprevent-ing waste of water.

In carrying out my invention construct the hydrant casing intwo'portions, one to be sunk below the level of; theground and the otherto project above the ground and to be provided with the separate outletvalves. The lower portion is provided with the main valve seat'and thevalvespindle is braced against said lower portion, and is operated by aspindle extension which is accessible at the head of the exposedportion. In this way, even though thee'Xposed portion of thecasingshould be broken completely ott, carrying with itthespindle ex-`tension, the-main valve would be held rmly against its seat. I have alsoprovided against a possible leaka e of waterpast. the

ling, as illustrated in Letters Patent No. 733,483, granted to me July14/03 is provided withaI lurality of threaded aper- :tu-res 25 norma y'closed by screw plugs 2 6, .There is a vplurality 'of separate valves27. arranged in different compartments, com- -municating with the saidapertures 25, so

main valveby making t e valve of onecentinuous orl unperforated piece ofmetal, so that, whenf the gasket thereon is seated tightly against `theseat, no escape ofwater through the valve is possible, nthis case thevgasket 'is secured in place by a washer Y centered on a! studprojecting from the valve, and ressed against the gasket by a nutthreads on saidstud. n'

On the accompanying drawings, Flgure 1 illustrates, artially insection', a-street tire hydrant em odyingmyimprovements. Fig. 2illustrates the upper end of the lower por tion or section of t ecasinwith the spider for receiving the spindle.r ig.- 3 represents asection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 illustrates one of the socketsformed in the casing to vreceive the spider. Fig. 5 'repre' v -sents avertical vsection of a portlon of the hydrant casing, the main valvetherefor and thewaste valve. o .Y -1

On the `accompanying drawings, the hyi Spe'cieation of Letters Patent.-Application led v February 7, v1908, Serial'lo. 514,736. Renewed January18, 1911. Serial No.

Patented sept. 10,1912.

drant is illustrated as comprising a casing or barrel consisting of aIlower portion or section'lOvand an upper portion'or section 11. IThesetwo' sections have at their meetr ing ends, opposing anges 12,13which are securely bolted and clamped'together. The lower section 10 isembedded 1n the earth as illustrated, whereas t-he upper section 11extends upwardly `from the` level of -the ound so vthat the two sectionsmay be reerred `to as fthej concealed section and .the exposed section.The lower section 1s vat 1ts lower end attached by suitable means to thewater .main which is indicated at 1 4., and itis formed-with an inwardlyprojecting annular bange 1 5 'in which is laced la seat 17 for the mainvalve which 1s indicated as a whole at 1 6.

. vThe main valve 1 6, nsillustrated, consists' Eoan unperforated plate18 with diametrically opposite notches 19 to receive the guidev iianges20 which-project inwardlyfrom the concealed section of the barrel. Theplate 18is rabbefted to 'receivean annular gasket :21. Formed'integrallyv with the plate and Adepdendinvf axially therefrom, isf av.threaded "stu 22 wliich centersa washer 23, which is forced by nuts 24against the" gasket so as to :clamp .it securel" in/place. Thevalve'whichas stated'be ore is of the compressiontype, is raised and loweredby valvecperating meansv which vI will subsequently describe.,

- The ,exposed portion of the barrel or casthat, whenthese valves areopened, water may be discharged through the several apertures or ports25.

Substantially atthe junction of the two portions of the casing, there isan abutment with which the valve s indle for vthe mainl upper end ofthis tube is internally threaded so as to receive the portion 29 of thes pindle,.the lower portion of which is in the form of a screw bar. Thesaid upper portion 29 has a collar 32 bearing against the hub 33 of thespider. Said portion 29 of the spindle projects through the hub of thespider, and it has secured upon it a collar 34. The extremity of theupper projecting portion is square as illustrated at 35. Projectingupwardly through the exposed section of the barrel is a spindleextension which consists of a tube 36 having secured to its lower end asocket piece 37 into .which projects the angular end of the valvespindle so that, when the spindle extension is rotated, the screw bar isrotated to open or close the valve. The spindle extension projectsupwardly through the top or head 38 ofthe barrel and passes through asuit-able stuffing box 39. The hood 40 of the barrel is provided with anangular member y41 which is socketed to receive a plug 42 inserted inthe` upper end of the tube 36, so that by rotating said member 41, thespindle extension may e rotated likewise. From this construction, itwill be seen that should the exposed portion of the barrel reefeive aheavy shock as for instance, being struck by a heavily laden dray, itwill, if it breaks. break above the flanges 12 and 13, but that thespider will be undisturbed and will continue to resist' the thrust ofthe valve due to the pressure of the Water in the main. 'Ihus the entireexposed -portion of the barrel may be broken oft' without permitting awastage of the water. It is `evident that the spider might be formedintegrally with the lower portion of the barrel, but for convenience, itis formed separately. Itcould well be clamped bet-ween the two abuttingends of the exposed and concealed portions of the barrel though I haveshown4 it as being removably connected with the,

upper end of the concealed section.

The spider has the radiilarms 43 with lateral lugs 44 :for apurposejt'be described. At its upper end, the concealed section of thebarrel has diametrical interior slots 45, each of which has an off-setportion 46 similar to the slot of a bayonet joint. The ends of thearms'43 are dropped int-o the slots 45 and the spider is partiallyrotated until the ends of said arms are located in the portions 46 ofsaid slots, after which blocks 47 are dropped into the open portions ofthe slots so as to lock the spider against reverse rotation. The blocks47 .are held .against inward movement by the-lugs 44 and against upwardmovement by the lower end of the exposed section of the barrel. The wallor lug 48 which is located above the portion 46 of each slot, resiststhe upward thrust of the. spider.

When the upper exposed portion of the barrel is removed, the spindleextension is slipped oifrom the end of the valve spindle, sincefit hasmerely a telescopic connection therewith.

The arms of the spider are arranged radially, with special relation toawaste valve Awith which the lower section, is provided. In Figs. l and3 is represented a holder 50 for a waste valve which is substantiallythe same as that illustrated and described in my co-pending application,Serial No.

377 ,140, iled June 4, 1907. The holder 50 is screw-threaded in j thelower section, and it contains a waste valve which controls a Wastepassage The valve member 18 carries a member 51 which is adapted toslide up and down upon the holder v50, and engageand swing a member 52which opens and closes the waste valve. By a comparison of Figs. 2 and 3it will be observed that the radial position of the holder 50 withreference to the axis ofthe barrel is in avertical plane midway betweentwo adjacent arms 43 of the spider. The spider is purposely fitted intothe lower section in this relation int'ordcr to leave an unobstructedspace through which a tool may be inserted vertically to engage theholder 50 so that the holder may be inserted and removed withoutdisturbing' the main valve and the spider. l

In casethe main'valve is removed for any purpose, the member 51 may befreelyv detached from the holder 50 by vertical movement, withoutdisturbing the holder. It is obvious that either' the main valve or thewaste valve holdermay be detached without in any way disturbing theother.v

I desire to have it understood that the invention is capable of otherembodiments from that` illustrated and described and is therefore not tobe limited to the details of construction which I have set forth.

' Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described away of constructing and using the same, although withont attempting toset forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modesof its use, I declare" that what I claim is:-

1. In a street lire hydrant, a barrel conslsting of an upper exposedsection and a lower concealed section, suitably connected at theirmeeting ends, said'lower section having offset slots, a valve seat inthe lower section, a valve movable in the lower section, a valvespindle, a spider as an abutment for the spindle and having armsremovably arranged in said slots, and keys constructed to enter saidslots for locking said arms therein.

2. In a Vstreet re hydrant, a barrel consisting of an upper exposedsection and a lower concealed section, suitably connected at theirmeeting ends, said lower section having slots, a valve seat in the lowersection, a valve movable in the lower section, a

valve spindle, a spider having arms arranged in said slots andcoperating *withl said spindle as an abutment therefor, locking membersarranged in said slots for oon-v 'lower concealed section, suitablyconnected at their meetings ends, a valve arran ed in the lower section,a valve seat there or in thelower section below the valve, said lowersection having substantially radial interior surfaces extendingdownwardly from its upper end, and seats facing upwardly at the lowerends of said surfaces, a removable abutment having extremities adaptedto rest upon said seats, said lower section having pockets into whichsaid-extremities may be moved rotatively vabout the axis of the barrel,and shoulders for engaging the upper side of said extremities forpreventing u ward vmovement in said pockets, removabll) members adaptedto rest u on said seats between said extremities an radial surfaces `tokeep said extremities in said pockets', and

i Witnesses:

4, In a street hydrant, a barrel consisting of an upper exposed section,and a lower concealed section, suitably connected at their meeting ends,said lower section having a main valve seat and a waste passage, a mainvalve in said lower section above said seat, a spindle for said mainvalve, a waste valve, a holder,` for the waste valve, said holder havingscrew-threaded connection with the lower section, means operated by. themain valve for opening and closing the waste valve, and a detachablespider having interlocking connection with the lower section above themain valve, said -spider being an abutmentengaging said mam-valvespindle to hold the main valve upon its seat, said ywaste valve holder,whereby a suitable tool may be'inserted bet-Ween the arms of the spiderfor inserting and removing the waste valve holder without disturbing themain valve and the spider.

In testimony whereof 'I have afiixed mysignature, in presence of twoWitnesses.

CLAUDE n Howes.

. M. BQMAY,

Il). W. Pnzzn'r'rr.

spider being arranged ,toleave aIFuneb-f

